Day before yesterday I made the 4 hour drive to pick up the 350SE I purchased. It was a great trip, great car, and great fellowship with a couple of close friends.

Comparisons between it and my 420SEL are somewhat inevitable in my mind because they both have an M116 engine.

But first things first...the first thing about this car that elicited a WHAWWW!!:15" Bundts. Yes, you read that correctly, this $1600 350SE was wearing a set of 15" Bundts with 225/60HR15 when I found it. I don't remember from the discussion, but is ET 21 what one would expect for the offset to be correct?

The next WHAWWW!!: The power on tap at freeway speeds puts the 420SEL to shame. The 420 has to downshift to get the same power on tap, and I suppose with a downshift, the 420 might outdo the 350, but the 350 is just more ready to go. This is probably due to the fact that the 420 has such a tall rear axle. This 350 just simply handles beautifully, with the exception of what I believe to be (hope to be?) a warped rotor, since it gives some pretty solid vibrations on a stop from speed.

Third WHAWWW!! (though this was more of a WHAWWW!!):Fuel tank on it started leaking like crazy somewhere between Virginia Beach, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina. As I left for church the next morning, I passed the 350 and noticed it was quite a puddle underneath. By the time I got back home, I moved it to investigate, and the point where the gasoline was directly dripping on had experienced the erosion of the asphalt. The asphalt around it didn't dry hard, but a dark rubbery finish. So this weekend I'll be off to grab the tank out of my wrecked 280SEL, along with helping a buddy with his Pontiac and working on reassembling my 220D engine.

Yes, I do have pics of the trip and the car, I promise to post them later in the week when I have a little more free time, this is about all the free time I've got for the next couple of days...

But first things first...the first thing about this car that elicited a WHAWWW!!:15" Bundts. Yes, you read that correctly, this $1600 350SE was wearing a set of 15" Bundts with 225/60HR15 when I found it. I don't remember from the discussion, but is ET 21 what one would expect for the offset to be correct?

Offset et 21 would be within the range that I would expect. Are they genuine MB rims? What do you think of the 225 wide tires compared to stock 205?

"Bundt Cake" or "Baroque Wheel" are just two common names given to the original equipment alloy wheel from MB in the 70s (and earlier).

There were indeed factory 15" "bundt" wheels, manufactured by Fuchs and used on special projects like armored cars and ambulances. I believe they have a W126 part number. Other 15" bundt copies were made by several companies including ATS and Ronal.

I actually had also located an original set in Sydney that I was considering until I heard the price of also AUD1,000 each

Also, the "Baroque Wheel" from Fuchs (7J x 15) are once again available from the Classic Centre. The Classic Centre has arranged from the manufacturer a final, limited production run and costs EURO 430 each!

Shame about the fuel tank but it's not uncommon to find nasty surprises like this. Keep in mind, it may more likely be the fuel lines around the pump and filter.

I spent a few hours Sunday afternoon hoping it was the lines and checking them all twice, and it was dripping on the driver's (EDIT: Left) side, from a grommet in the body, which rather dashed my hopes of it simply being a line.

BTW, what about the sound, how many revs did you get it up to? I've got low end rumble and V8 racetone after 4000rpm

Definitely some low-end rumble, since it doesn't have a tach in it (yet), I don't know what I got it up to, I didn't usually make it hold the shifts too long, though it did start sounding kinda nice around 130 kph, which I didn't have it up to for long, since I got ticketed for doing 83 MPH in a 65 MPH zone after not checking the speedo in that 420 for more than 1 minute earlier that morning. So hard to tell when you're speeding up in that 420...

The 300 SE had a high revving sparkling nature but the 420SE was straddled with a long diff ratio that stopped it from revving at normal speeds.

I would imagine a 116 - 350SE with a shorter final drive ratio would make for a more interesting lively car at normal road speeds at the expense of fuel costs and ultimate top end speed.

Yeah, I'd agree, the 420 isn't running 3000 till well after 80 MPH. I've been tempted to start driving it in the "3" position when not cruising, that gives it roughly the same gearing as my 280SE. I just don't like thinking about how much extra gas that would use.

Re: the 15s, my mistake, they are labelled ET 23. They have a manufacturer name on them, so I doubt they'd be considered "genuine", I'll post some pics just of the wheels when I post the pics of the trip so those more knowledgeable on wheels can let me know exactly what I've got.

I've always thought my 350SE handled more like a Peugeot 504 than a Cadillac. Sporty yet refined. Tight when you need it, strong enough to knock the blocks off dunny doors and other late model, ahem.... cars, but chilled to the core and languid like a pussy cat stretched out in the sun, just purring along.

Shame about the fuel tank but it's not uncommon to find nasty surprises like this. Keep in mind, it may more likely be the fuel lines around the pump and filter.

So much for my idea about it being the tank...after I get it pulled, I can't find a leak anywhere. Turns out, the METAL supply line had rusted out between the body and a subframe member where I couldn't actually see it. The whole car is turning out to be a bit rustier than I was thinking. I couldn't finish it with the rain we had yesterday, but hopefully over the next few evenings I can install the tank I did the rust treatment on. Just as a caution for all, both of the W116 tanks I pulled had rust in the LF corner, and it kind of looked like the paint had been rubbed off. So I sanded the rust and re-painted, followed by some rubberized underbody coating spray.

Ahhh... but maybe you guys never drove a Peugeot 504? Or even a front wheel drive (horror of horrors!) Renault 12. Both these cars handle like a dream - tight, straight and instant, which is why I am constantly surprised when the substantially heavier, longer and wider W116 has a similar feel to it - as if it were up for the Paris-Dakar followed by some serious bend action in Monaco. As for Cadillacs, I've only ever been driven about in these boats and agree whole heartedly that they are not a pinch on our cars.

Ahhh... but maybe you guys never drove a Peugeot 504? Or even a front wheel drive (horror of horrors!) Renault 12. Both these cars handle like a dream - tight, straight and instant, which is why I am constantly surprised when the substantially heavier, longer and wider W116 has a similar feel to it - as if it were up for the Paris-Dakar followed by some serious bend action in Monaco. As for Cadillacs, I've only ever been driven about in these boats and agree whole heartedly that they are not a pinch on our cars.

I got my drivers license in a 1969 504 and a R12 Estate (wagon in the US) was my first car. It went downhill from there.

1976 450SEL, 116.033 Sold it to buy a '97 Crown Vic. Made sense at the time.1971 250C, 114.023 Sad but true, it's gone to a new home.1976 280C Stolen by the City of Seattle, sort of.1970 250/8, traded in on a 1993 Land Rover Disco